Southside Hospital Is Recognized for Its Outstanding Stroke Care

Southside Hospital recently received the Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award from the The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®.

The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Quality Achievement Award was given to 14 Northwell Healthhospitals, recognizing their commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment according to nationally accepted guidelines.

To receive the Get With The Guidelines® Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award, each hospital achieved 85 percent or higher adherence to all stroke achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month periods and achieved 75 percent or higher compliance with five of eight Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality measures. These measures include aggressive use of medications, such as tissue plasminogen activator (or tPA, a clot-busting drug), antithrombotics and anticoagulation therapy, cholesterol-reducing drugs and smoking cessation counseling. All of those protocols are aimed at reducing death and disability, and improving the lives of stroke patients. Gold Plus indicates hospitals that have met the Gold requirements and have shown adherence to several additional quality measures.

Huntington Hospital, Long Island Jewish Forest Hills, North Shore University Hospital, Plainview Hospital, Southside Hospital and Staten Island University Hospital achieved “Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite” status. Hospitals earned this additional recognition by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period.

“The Get With The Guidelines® – Stroke Quality Achievement Awards demonstrates that our highly trained physicians and nurses throughout Northwell Health are committed to providing care that has been clinically proven to quickly and efficiently treat stroke patients and save lives,” said Souhel Najjar, MD, senior vice president and executive director, Northwell Health’s neurology service line.

As New York State-designated stroke centers, the 14 Northwell Health hospitals have multidisciplinary stroke teams available 24 hours a day to assess and treat stroke patients.

For more information about Get With The Guidelines®, visit heart.org/quality.